OHINEMURI. THE MINLNG OUTLOOK. THE PARKES PROCESS. (By Aboriginal.)

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 289, 11 August 1888, Page 6

OHINEMURI. THE MINLNG OUTLOOK. THE PARKES PROCESS. (By Aboriginal. )

Having a lew days at ray own disposal last week. I devoted the time to visiting some of tho gold mines in the above-named dia" trict, and the following- is resume of what I saw and heard when in that locality. Takiug the embr^ o township of Paeroa as a starting point, the iirst mining camp met with is known as

KARANGAHAKE, which, by the way, is the scene of the celebrated diggers' rush thai took place in bho year 1875. When approaching' Kar angahaLe the fiist ihingt'hat strikes the visitor, it ho is of a practical turn of mind, is the conformation of: Che country, which heLlc iXime Nature undoubtedly intended lor gold-mining, inasmuch in the mam range upon which the principal mines are located rises abruptly to a height* of 1,700 ft. above the oidinaty level, thus, ailording splendid facilities for tunnelling purposes, and obviating the necessity for costly pumping and hoisting appliances, in order to develop the mines. This mountain range, which has a general north and south course, and at one time evidently formed tae main watershed of this portion of the Coromandel Peninsula, is intersected in two places, about hall a mile apa "fc, by the Ohinemuri and Waitawheta rivers respectively. These two streams, which drain an immense area of country, junction at the mining camp and near to the mines wheic the Ivanhoc battery and Woodstock turnaco plants, are also situated, and there ib heie a practically unlimited supply of water available for motive power throughout all seisons of tb.e year. The gorge of the ,\yaita\vheta River intersects the auriferous belt of coun'iy almost at right angles to the course of the reels, which are plainly visible trending right down to the water's edge, and upon which levels could be driven both north and south at a comparatively Lriiling cost. To an old mining man like myself, the wonder is that no ellort has as yet been made to turn this natutal crosscut to profitable account by utilising it as a main level for the development of the numerous mines located upon either «-iue of its line. t)ne thitfd of the money that has already been frittered away in surface scratching on the mines alluded to would have been amply sufficient for this purpose, and I am satisfied the general ie;u]t3 would ha\e been more satislactoiy than has been the ease in the past. Hitherto, however, it appears that the capital of toe companies owning property has existed only on paper, and every attempt made to levy contributions in the shape of calls upon the shareholders met with anything but favourable responses, and the work of developing the mines languished vintil ifc ib now almost snufTcd out in consequence. On this subject, however, I shall have somt thing more to say as I proceed to sketch a biief outline of the past history of Hie different mines, as well as of their present and piospective values. Oi course, the chiof item on the mining' programme here at this juncture i-s the smelting furnace, which is now fast approaching completion under the supervision of Mr Alcxnndor Parkes, who is an inventor and metallurgist bearing a very high loputation lor skill and ability in the matter of dealing with every description of mineral ores. This' furnace, which is being constructed on the' reverberafory principle, will be ready for work about the end of the month, and' there is now a large tonnage lying at the Woodstock Company's furnace house, in which the new plant is being erected, awaiting treatment. Befoxe leaving England, Mr Parkes gave an exhibition of his ability, at Greenwich, to treat oie very refractory in character, in a similar furnace, and the results were eminently satisfactory. The worst ore which the Parkes (Jold and fS'lver Smelting Company had to deal with -lpon that occasion was from the Alexa' clria Mine, Queens^ nd. It contained lead, sulphur, copper, ?mc, and 50 p r c«-nu of s'Mcious insoluble mati or. This ore was worih 2dz 12dwt of gold and lok sdwt of pilver to the ' ton, when in its raw state, and afu^r treatment the slag contained only 2dwt lOgr of gold, and 2dwt lOgr of silver to the ton. The tost& were witnessed by representative mining men from all parts or the world, and at the conclusion quite a number of offers were mado io Mr Parkes abkuig him to visit Africa and Queensland for the purpose of establishing his , proo ss at difFarenl mining centres in those counhics, and, although some of these were very tempting, that gentloman decided upon giving^ Now Zealand the benefit of his experience in the first instance. For his presence here I believe we are indebted to Messrs J. Chambers, sen., and J, M. Chambers, jun., who have always taken an active part in the development of our mineral industry, and I hope the time is not far distant when they will be amply rewai ded for their faith and perseverance. ; '' (To be Cohtinued.)